Contaminated land

Page Content

​

What is contaminated land?

Contaminated land is land where at some in point the past chemicals have made their way into the soil. Contaminated land is defined under the Resource Management Act (RMA) as land with hazardous substances in or on it that are reasonably likely to have significant adverse effects on the environment (including human health).

The threshold for classifying land as contaminated depends on its current land use. For example, what might be considered contaminated for land with housing may not be considered contaminated for industrial / commercial use. This is because of the way people are exposed to the soil on the land and the duration of exposure may be different.

There are an estimated 20,000 contaminated sites around the country, often the result of historic land use. There are also naturally-occurring contaminants in the soil.

Is there contaminated land in Hamilton?

There are around 1200 sites in Hamilton that once had a land use that could have potentially contaminated the soil. These sites once had a hazardous activity or industry on the land that could have contaminated the soil many years ago. It does not necessarily mean they are contaminated.

These sites are registered on the Council’s Selected Land Use Register.

A good example is old fruit orchards that used pesticides and herbicides (that included arsenic) in the 1940-50s and that have since been built over with housing.

How do you know if your soil / land is contaminated?

Having a different previous land use registered on your LIM does not necessarily mean that your land is contaminated, but it does mean that many years ago there was industry or agriculture on the land that could have resulted in contamination.